Head of the German security agency accuses Russian hackers of attacking country’s power grid

Hans-Georg Maassen, who currently serves as President of Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, blamed Russia for a recent large-scale cyberattack on German power grids and energy companies in an interview with media group Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland’s newspaper. 

"The modus operandi is in fact only one of [multiple] indications that point to Russian control of the attack campaign," he said. Hans-Georg Maassen did not reveal details of the investigation.

Germany’s Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) reported a massive cyberattack, codenamed Berserk Bear, on June 13. Attackers tried to infiltrate the Internet network of German energy suppliers. The criminals, however, managed to only crack the network infrastructure in the offices of several companies. The first signs of an attack appeared during summer 2017. Maassen did not specify the number of German companies affected by the attack. According to BSI, the situation is under control.

  Russian hackers, Germany

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